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Fact check: Does a Michigan judgeship cost taxpayers $450,000 annually?
October 14, 2015
By Fact Check by Ballotpedia staff
Michigan State Senator Rick Jones (R) claims that it costs Michigan taxpayers $450,000 annually for each state judgeship. The figure includes state monies and varying contributions from local jurisdictions.
In a press release on July 17, 2015, State Senator Rick Jones said: “It is important to cut judges that are not needed. It costs local and state taxpayers a combined $450,000 per judge.”
The question is whether $450,000 is a credible figure for the total costs of a state judge. Local support, at least in some local jurisdictions, would have to be almost $300,000 for this to be the case—and those costs are handled by the various localities, making it very difficult to track.
Background
Jones made the claim in a press release. He was announcing his intention to introduce legislation based on a Judicial Resources Recommendations (JRR) report compiled by the State Court Administrative Office (SCAO).The biennial report analyzes court workloads and makes recommendations for increasing or decreasing the number of judgeships in jurisdictions across Michigan.
A judgeship includes the salary and benefits for the judge and his support staff, as well as facilities such as judge’s chambers and the courtroom. The judge’s salary is funded by the state, while all other costs are funded by local taxing authorities.
Senator Jones has used this cost estimate for some time. In 2011, he issued a news release saying, “The State Court Administrative Office (SCAO) is the administrative agency of the Michigan Supreme Court. Each year the administrative office recommends removing or adding judicial positions based on caseloads. The typical trial court judge cost [sic] about $460,000. On average, $160,000 of that amount is state costs and $300,000 in local government cost [sic].”
How can Michiganders know if the $450,000 number is credible?
State vs. local costs for a judgeship
When we asked Senator Jones about the number in an email exchange, he replied that the $450,000 was given to him in a conversation with SCAO personnel, and he acknowledged that it is extremely difficult to determine local costs. “SCAO was accurate. It is difficult to declare the amount because local amounts vary. But SCAO stated to me in meetings that the average cost of both state and local costs is $450,000.” Jones reiterated this in a phone call with Ballotpedia on October 13, 2015.
A judgeship includes all the costs of a judge’s operation. The state portion includes, according to the JRR report, the judge’s salary, “a retirement contribution up to 7 percent, and the employer portion of FICA taxes (OASI and Medicare).” According to the JRR report the “annual total state cost of a judgeship ranges from $159,089 for a circuit or probate judge to $157,303 for a district judge.”
In a document dated March 18, 2015, the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency reported numbers that confirm the state costs of judges cited by the SCAO.
Since a judgeship includes many other items that must be paid for, localities cover costs of a judge's “fringe benefits, salaries and fringe benefits of court personnel (i.e., clerk, court reporter, bailiff, legal assistants); computer hardware, software, and other equipment for court personnel. It includes courtrooms, jury rooms, and the judge’s chambers.”
The state pays for the judge’s salary, makes retirement contributions and covers FICA taxes. The localites pay for everything else required to make a judgeship operational. That means, according to Senator Jones’ figures, that local costs per judgeship could be an additional $300,000 annually to localities. Again, the JRR report said that because “local funding, particularly staffing for the courts, varies greatly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it is difficult to determine the amount that a funding unit would save through the elimination of a specific judgeship.”
Other estimates may differ
Laura Hutzel, the Statistical Research Director for the Michigan Supreme Court – State Court Administrative Office, told us in an email that “… local savings associated with a judicial reduction are hard to quantify and could vary greatly. In particular, it could include reductions of court facilities, staff eliminations, becoming more efficient, etc. If a local judgeship is reduced, the potential cost savings easily exceeds $350,000 for salaries, fringe benefits, retirement, physical sites, and other related operations. While we are unsure where Senator Jones received the number cited, it is not unreasonable to believe all-in savings could approach $450,000.”
Again, the wild card in the deck is the difference between the amount Michigan pays judges and the local costs. And that has to be determined jurisdiction by jurisdiction.
Hutzel confirmed that there is no database of information that tallies the local costs of a judgeship. Those costs are borne by the taxpayers in various local jurisdictions.
Conclusion
Jones’ claim is that in Michigan it “costs local and state taxpayers a combined $450,000 per judge.” The state portion of this can be confirmed at about $160,000 for a judge. What cannot be confirmed is the local cost per judgeship. The SCAO told us the cost of a judgeship could be $350,000, but “it is not unreasonable to believe all-in savings could approach $450,000.” $450,000 is on the high side, but it seems to be a reasonable estimate of the cost to taxpayers of a Michigan state judgeship. Whether the reduction of a judgeship would result in a commensurate savings is the subject of a different fact check.
Launched in October 2015 and active through October 2018, Fact Check by Ballotpedia examined claims made by elected officials, political appointees, and political candidates at the federal, state, and local levels. We evaluated claims made by politicians of all backgrounds and affiliations, subjecting them to the same objective and neutral examination process. As of 2025, Ballotpedia staff periodically review these articles to revaluate and reaffirm our conclusions. Please email us with questions, comments, or concerns about these articles. To learn more about fact-checking, click here.
Sources
Email exchange with Rick Jones on September 17, 2015
Telephone interview with Rick Jones on October 13, 2015
Michigan Supreme Court, "SCAO Judicial Resources Recommendations,” July 2015
Michigan Legislature, “Bill Analysis: Senate Bill 56,” March 18, 2015
Email exchange with Laura Hutzel on October 7 and 12, 2015
Contact
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